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X is for Xenophilia #AtoZChallenge

I’m doing the A to Z Challenge in April using the theme “What to Pack on Your Creative Journey.” Today, we’ll add xenophilia to our metaphorical suitcase.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. ~Hal David (1965)

Xenophilia is the opposite of xenophobia. Xenophobes are fearful and hateful toward people and cultures that are new to us. Those who practice xenophilia are open and hopeful about encountering and engaging new things.

Xenophilia means that we reject the notion that we should judge others by our own yardsticks. Instead, we practice curiosity with a passion.

Creative people are open, hopeful, and curious about the world because we never know what might be our next inspiration. Some of my favorite creative moments came when I mashed-up something that is deeply part of my culture with something that I just learned from someone who experienced life very differently from me.

Here is an inspiring example of xenophilia – a recently produced video, produced by quarantined students from the Boston Conservatory and Berkley College of Music.

What the world needs now is a broad appreciation of the varied expressions of humanity. Creative people can lead the way, because xenophilia is necessary to our art. How can love of the world infuse your art, today?